Heat-conducting apparatus



. I 1,632,784 June 21, 1927- s. BLA|R HEAT CONDUCTING APPARATUS Filed March 24, 1919- plication of which will: be indicated in-nthe.

Patented June 21, 1927.

UNITED STATES: PATENT QFFPCE;

ROBERT S; BL'AIR, 0F SO'UNDBEIA'EGH, GONNEGTICU'T.

Hm'B-CQNDUGTING KPBARATUS.

Applioatlonfildlarch- 24 1918p Serial Na 28 E621;-

and with regard to its more specific features to distilling apparatus.

One of the objects 1s which shall bev light and simple in construe-- tion: and; of? increased.- eifectiveness. for. heat exchange. Other objectsw-ill be in. part obvious. and in-. part pointed .out-v hereinaften. k

The invention accordingly. consistsfin: the. features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of. parts which i will beexemplifiedinthe construction here. inafter set forth, and: the scope" of. the apfollow ingi, claims:v

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is show-n. one of various possible: embodi+ ments of the severat features ofI this in:-

Fig, 1 isa.v longitudinal sectional view of astill, showing. parts of the worm broken away. p Fig. 25- is. a detail. View in. longitudinal section of: a segmentv of my conduit. 7

Similar. reference. characters refer to sinu ilarparts throughout the different. viewsof the drawings.

Referring: nowto the drawings;- I have.

shown a still. comprising. a vessel. 1, having. an. inlet opening 21' near its: bottom for entry ofcooling fluid and. an. outlet opening. 3 near its'topfor discharge. of the. cooling? fluid,- which isdesigned by some means.- not. shown, to be kept in continual circulation,

the cool fluid. entering: at the bottom? and exhausting at the top bearing; aw-ayheat abstracted from the contents of the. worm 4g enclosed invessel 1.

Theworm prefer-ably is provided with an in'let opening; 5 for entry of vapors to be condensed, and said! worm preferably exehausts near'the bottom of. the. vessel: at an openingioi. maappearsmore clear-1y in-Fi'g 1 the worm preferably comprises: a conduit, Wound to have a helical conformation, and

has a maximum: cross-sectional area at the top as. shown at Z, said cross seotionalareagradually; decreasing until a? minimum cross sectional area. 8 at: the: bottom: is reachedl Itprefen to support my worm w-ithina the vessel 1, by a: plurality ofbracketsfippref-F erably equi+distantly-spaceatishorte interto provide in a; system of the abovetype, a conduit for fluids,

vals to support the coils of: the. worm in place without sagging..= The: bracketsv 9 may be of any desired construction, preferably however,. having; an. arcuate supporting surface l fl, for. holding the cooperating. coilzin. position. I

I: prefer to. form my. conduit with. heli cally encircling supplementary passages 1l, communicating with: the interior thereof.

For. this p'urpose ll prefer-Ito. make mycondint: of flexible 1 tubing of the type shown. on h Fig. 2. This tubingis by preference made from atsingle. bandof. metall having a cen tral' groove,. and Wound. into helical. form,v contiguous. edges ofl adjoining. oonvolutions being. bent-T together, as shown for instance" at 12;. to form a supplementary. encircling passageway or a helically extending. hollow vane 13 about. themain conduit 14. The groove originally. in. the band. prior to its. conversion. into a tube, appears-at 15 forming azliel-ic'all exterior groove adjacenttoandbetween: the. convolutions of helical vane 13.

The. specific construction of the tube shown.v innig. 2; takenby itself, and. the. method of. forming this tube V are not. my in vention and: are" therefore not more. fully V preferably.- passes into an. outer-tubing 17, which. surrounds and: is: spaced from. the inner. tubing as shown in the drawing. This outer tubing. which" is of the same flexible corrugatedform as therinner tubihg isheld in. spaced position as by the. spaced: radial. arms 18 and supported at its. ends. by the" bracket. 19.

Iprefer to. employ a numberof segmentsof: tubing: of." the type. shown in- Fig, 2', of. varying. diameter and connect the segments together end' to end,. arranging. them in the orden of their diameter using for purposes of: fluid tight. connection, any desired and. appropriate. form of" union, asshown for: instance atg20- in. Fig. 2; The composite; tube may then be coiled intoa-Worin ofthe proper diameter, and inserted: intoathe vessel:1-, witli the: small diameter tubing at the: bottomr- In operation; the vapor enters the WOI'III throughthe? opening: 5, and the cooling: fluid: enters the: vessel through the opening 2.v The. vapon is allowed to; pass through! the; worm' in: acontinuous stream: and fresh c0011 the tank as through. an inlet pipe 2 andally admitted through, the bottom of ,the

vessel. Ina manner which will now be clear, this fluid will abstract heat fromthe worm exhaustin through; -the opening The outer tube 1 which may inclose the inner tubing for any desired portionrofzthe length ofthe latter holds the cooling fluid close to the outer surface of the inner mem-" her and enhances the cooling action'particularly toward thedischargeend of the latter tubing and at which pointits contents are of lower temperature. 1 I

The vapor is converted into condensed liquid by this process of heat abstraction and in view of the narrowing of the worm near its exhaust end 6, thiscondensed fluid will rapidly emerge from the still. 6 Throughout the-entire length of the inner tubing there is preferably 'woundin the outer helical groove] a brass Wire 21 or thelike, which fits" this groove loosely *at its sides. This wire not onlyaddsto the strengthof the tubin'gbut increases its eflective outer surface.

It is to be noted that asthe vapor passes through the conduit, it enters the hollow vane 13, and being limited against further direct movement axially of the'conduit, Will the groove. Eddy currents are alsoset upin the vapor within the groove, as suggestivelyf assume a rotary movement within indicated by the arrows shown in Fi 2.

Inasimilar'manner, the cooling uidon the outside of the Conduitentersthe exter na-lhelical groove15, and circulates therein to cause a continual changing contact of coolingfluid with thewallsot the conduit As the vapor within groove 13 is cooled by .the coolingfluid, it makesway for other,

vapor in a less cool state.

isso arranged that boththe vapor to be'condensed and thecooling fluid, are in continual eddy movement, to efficiently abstract heat from the vapor. 1

It is to be understood that my invention" is applicable not only for condensing vapors,

but also for cooling liquids. In general, it maybe used 111 any case in which the state" of a substance 1s to changed to another physical state of lessened molecular activity and certainof its features areof broader application. My invention, however, hasits;

ings, I may provide a conduit with vanes of different conformation from those-disclosed,

and said conduit may beflmade'by methods other than that set forth in Fig. 2, and said conduit may further be either ofbrass ror' other suitable material. .As to all these: feedescribed;- 7 v It-will thus be seen that there is herein 7 described apparatus in whieh the several features of this invention are embodied, and

which apparatus in its action attains thevarious objects of the invention and is well suited to "ineetthe requirements of practical use. I I

As m'any changes could be made in the the ae-copethereoflit is intended that all mataboveconst1:uction, and many apparently widely diiierent embodiments of this nventlOIl could bemade wlthout departing irom' ter contained in the; above "description or shown ln'the accompanyingfdrawings shall beinterpreted as ilustrative and notinl a;

limiting sense.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters- Patent is: y 7 1., Inap'paratus of the general nature of thatherei'n described inl combination a flex ibldmetallicconduit, a second flexible meis'fittecl, means interposed between said contallic conduit into which said firstconduit duits intermediate their endsiadapted to hold themin spaced relation one from the other, and means adapted to lead acurrent of'fluid thru one of. said conduits, and-jam other current of fluid ,thru the space be tween said conduits in the opposite direction.

2.In apparatus of the general nature of" V that herein described, in combination, a flexiblemetallicconduit," a second flexible metallic conduitflnto which saidfirst conduit is" fitted, means positioned within said first conduit "supporting saidsecond conduit s 1 I therein in spaced relation to the' inner sur-' Thus by my invention, I not onlyprovide m increasedsurface between the vapor and the cooling fluid, but my interposed-surface facethereof, meansada tedto lead a cu"r cent of fluid tliru one 0 said conduits, and anot her current of fluid thru' the space be? tween said conduits, each of saidcon'duits connected sections of flexiblemetallic tubing of progressively varyingdiameters and adapted to carry a fluid, means for surroundingsaid 'conduit with amedium for efi'ecting heat exchange between said fluid and said medium, and means for rigidly I sup.-

- porting the extreme ends of said conduit within-said first-mentioned means. 4. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a main conduit, a supplementarychanne l helically encircling said main conduit andintegral therewith, and a wire helical wound exteriorly within the outer depression formed by saidchannel; V 7 +5. In: condensing apparatus, in combination, a flexible metallic conduit composed of a substantially U-shaped strip of metal helically Wound and having the edges of adjacent turns orimped together, thereby form ing an outer helical depression throughout the extent of said conduit, a Wire Wound Within said helical depression and means adapted to lead a fluid over the outside of said conduitin heat-conducting relation thereto.

6. In condensing apparatus, in combination, a conduit adapted to carry a fluid, a vessel adapted to receive said conduit and to surround said conduit with a heat exchange medium, means for conducting said medium into and out of said vessel, and means-for conducting the incoming medium in intimate contact With said conduit throughout a substantial portion of the discharge end of said conduit, said means comprising a passage relatively restricted with respect to the succeeding path of saidmedium through said vessel.

7. In condensing apparatus, in combina tion, a container adapted to contain a cooling fluid, and a flexible corrugated conduit of heat conductive metal forming a passage through said container for fluid to be cooled, said conduit having a Wire coiled thereabout in the corrugations thereof.

ROBERT S. BLAIR. 

